System and Method for Searching Heterogeneous Electronic Directories

1. A system for searching for a contact comprising: a database comprising a plurality of references to electronic directories, wherein said plurality comprises: a first reference to a first electronic directory, wherein said first electronic directory comprises a standard electronic directory format, and a second reference to a second electronic directory, wherein said second electronic directory comprises a non-standard electronic directory; the database also comprising a search-order field, the search-order field determining an order in which the plurality of references is searched, the search-order field having an integer value and a reference having a lowest numerical value within the search-order field being first searched, and subsequent references are searched in an ascending order of the search-order field; a searching component in communication with said database.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein each of said plurality of references comprises: a location of an electronic directory; a format descriptor of said electronic directory; and a search descriptor of said electronic directory.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein said searching component comprises an executant on a web application server.

4. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a directory entry display interface.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein a single executant comprises said searching component and said directory entry display interface.

6. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a query format converter.

7. The system of claim 5 , wherein said query format converter comprises a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) query string to lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP) query converter.

8. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a display format converter.

9. A method for searching for a contact comprising: receiving a search criterion; searching a database comprising a plurality of references to electronic directories, the database also comprising a search-order field, the search-order field having an integer value that determines an order in which the plurality of references is searched, a reference having a lowest numerical value within the search-order field being first searched, and subsequent references are searched in an ascending order of the search-order field, wherein said plurality comprises: a first reference to a first electronic directory, wherein said first electronic directory comprises a standard electronic directory format, and a second reference to a second electronic directory, wherein said second electronic directory comprises a non-standard electronic directory; and iteratively performing the following steps a-c for each of said plurality of references: a. connecting to an electronic directory to which said reference refers, b. performing a search of said electronic directory, using said search criterion, and c. receiving a result of said search.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein each of said plurality of references comprises: a location of an electronic directory; a format descriptor of said electronic directory; and a search descriptor of said electronic directory.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising displaying a contact search user interface.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein after the step of receiving a result of said search, the method further comprises: d. formatting said result; and e. displaying said result in said contact search user interface.

13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising: accepting a selection of said result in said contact search user interface; and in response to said selection, creating an email message addressed to an email address associated with said selection.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein after the step of searching said database, the method further comprises finding a directory.

15. The method of claim 9 further comprising: searching for a directory of contacts; and inserting a record corresponding to said directory in said database.

16. The method of claim 9 , further comprising converting said search criterion into a format supported by said electronic directory.

17. The method of claim 9 , further comprising billing for the use of said service.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein said billing comprises billing a fixed amount per search.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein said billing comprises billing a fixed amount per time period.

20. The method of claim 9 , wherein said search comprises a query selected from the group consisting of a fragment-matching query; a whole-word-matching query; and an exact-match query.

21. The method of claim 9 , wherein said displaying further comprises filtering said result based on said search criterion.

22. A computer-readable medium on which is encoded computer program code for searching for a contact comprising: computer program code for receiving a search criterion; computer program code for searching a database containing a plurality of references to electronic directories, the database also comprising a search-order field, the search-order field having an integer value that determines an order in which the plurality of references is searched, a reference having a lowest numerical value within the search-order field being first searched, and subsequent references are searched in an ascending order of the search-order field, wherein said plurality comprises: a first reference to a first electronic directory, wherein said first electronic directory comprises a standard electronic directory format, and a second reference to a second electronic directory, wherein said second electronic directory comprises a non-standard electronic directory; and computer program code for iteratively performing the following steps a-c for each of said plurality of references: a. connecting to an electronic directory to which said reference refers, b. performing a search of said directory, using said search criterion, and c. receiving a result of said search.

23. The computer-readable medium of claim 22 , wherein each of said plurality of references comprises: a location of an electronic directory; a format descriptor of said electronic directory; and a search descriptor of said electronic directory.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 22 , further comprising computer program code for displaying a contact search user interface;

25. The computer-readable medium of claim 24 , further comprising computer program code for performing the following steps d-e: d. formatting said result; and e. displaying said result in said contact search user interface.

26. The computer-readable medium of claim 24 , further comprising: computer program code for accepting a selection of said result in said contact search user interface; and in response to said selection, computer program code for creating an email message addressed to an email address associated with said selection.

27. The computer-readable medium of claim 22 , further comprising computer program code for finding a directory.

28. The computer-readable medium of claim 22 further comprising: computer program code for searching for a directory of contacts; and computer program code for inserting a record corresponding to said directory in said database.

29. The computer-readable medium of claim 22 , further comprising computer program code for converting said search criterion into a format supported by the said electronic directory.

30. The computer-readable medium of claim 22 , further comprising computer program code for billing for the use of said service.

31. The computer-readable medium of claim 22 , wherein said search comprises a query selected from the group consisting of a fragment-matching query; a whole-word-matching query; and an exact-match query.

32. The computer-readable medium of claim 22 , wherein said displaying further comprises program code for filtering said result based on said search criterion.